Football Season Guide

PEC Zwolle are coming off a great season, well beyond expectations. They were among the main candidates for relegation, instead they achieved a comfortable survival thanks to an excellent second half of the season, which ended in 12th position. A team well organized by coach Johnny Jansen, confirmed on the bench of the white and blues, balanced in every department and that was able to count on a good goalkeeper like Jasper Schendelaar, on the goals of Lennart Thy, seventh in the top scorers chart with 13 goals and on the talent of Younes Namli. The season that is about to begin will probably be very different considering that the team was revolutionised in the summer transfer market and that many of the best players have left: the two pillars of the defence such as Bram van Polen and Sam Kersten, the top scorer Thy and the playmaker Namli all left leaving gaps that are difficult to fill. In the opposite direction, the interesting but young defender Tristan Gooijer arrived in Zwolle on loan from Ajax, the reliable left-back Thierry Lutonda and the striker Thomas Buitink coming off a very disappointing season with relegated Vitesse. Midfielder Braydon Manu, coming from the German second division, is a question mark. At the moment the team seems incomplete, especially in defense and attack, little talent and even less experience.